A diverse beginning for Broward

Broward County is home to a mixed bag of people, and has been from the start.

When the railroad was extended to the area in the 1890s, land companies encouraged immigrants to buy and cultivate the land.

From the Northeast came Swedes, who settled in Hallandale. Danes from the Midwest named a new city after themselves: Dania. Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach were homes to farmers from the South.

Working the land were blacks, who were brought in from the South or the Bahamas.

Of course, the Tequesta Indians were the first residents here, dating to about 4,000 years ago. They were nearly wiped out by disease from the Spanish, or warfare with the powerful Calusa tribe from West Florida. Only about 80 Tequesta were left in Broward in 1763, and they departed for Cuba when Spain ceded the area to Britain at the end of the Frend and Indian War.